TLU Baseball Preview: SCAC Championship Tournament

TEXAS LUTHERAN at the 2024 SCAC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

May 3-5, 2024

Where: La Moderna Field - Cleburne, Texas

Time: Friday at 1 PM; Saturday at TBD

Stream/Live Stats: All streaming and live stats links available on tlubulldogs.com.

SCAC Championship Titles (Last): 2 (2021)

SCAC Championship Record: 13-15

THE MATCHUPS -- The Bulldogs head into the SCAC Championships as the No. 4 seed and will face No. 1 seed, 9th-ranked Trinity. The Tigers won the series over the Bulldogs last month. Texas Lutheran has won the SCAC Championship Tournament two times, with the last coming in 2021. Last season, Texas Lutheran reached the final but came up short against Trinity.

A LOOK AT THE BULLDOGS -- Texas Lutheran won their series against Southwestern last weekend to clinch the fourth and final spot in the SCAC Tournament. Texas Lutheran is fielding .972 to lead the SCAC, ranking in the top 20 nationally.

NARROW MARGINS -- The Bulldogs have played several close games this season with 17 games decided by three runs or less. In those games, Texas Lutheran has a 6-11 record in those games and the Bulldogs hold a 4-5 record in one-run games. Texas Lutheran has a trio of walk-off wins this season at Katt-Isbel Field. Eleven of the Bulldogs 15 losses have been by three runs or less and four of the defeats have been by one run.

FREAK OFF A LEASH -- Fifth-year senior Brendan Beard (Coldspring/Coldspring-Oakhurst) has had a breakout season in his first season as a full-time starter for Texas Lutheran, posting a 2.35 ERA and a 6-1 record in 11 appearances (10 starts) this season. Beard has struck out 67 batters in 69 innings pitched, while also holding hitters to a .233 batting average against.

PEAVY POWER -- Designated hitter Adam Peavy (Houston/Memorial) has hit in the cleanup spot for Texas Lutheran most of the season and has been productive in his first season in the lineup, batting .321 with a team-high 36 RBIs, ranking third in the SCAC, and 24 runs scored. Peavy has hit four home runs as a sophomore and tallied 14 extra-base hits.

X MARKS THE SPOT -- Xavier Arias (La Vernia/Nixon-Smiley) holds the team lead with 16 extra base hits, including a team-high six home runs. The Harding University transfer is batting .313 with 34 RBIs and 32 runs scored.

INFIELD HIT MACHINE -- Throughout his career at TLU, Mason Goudeau (Liberty/Liberty) has used his speed as a means to get on bases. Goudeau has tallied 16 infield singles on the season, including six bunt singles.

For more information on Texas Lutheran baseball and all TLU athletics, you can find updates on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics and @TLU_Baseball on X (Twitter), @tlubulldogs on Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok).